The 26th China Hi-Tech Fair, which ran from Thursday to Saturday in south China's tech hub of Shenzhen, featured the debuts of over 4,300 new products and technologies.
One of the most eye-catching exhibits is an intelligent drone camera that doesn't require a remote control. It can take high-resolution pictures hovering at a certain distance above its owner after a facial recognition process.
"A great merit of the drone is it's portable, safe and convenient. The fully enclosed structure can effectively avoid visual obstacles for its 8K video camera. It is easy for customers to learn how to use the drone. It can fly at a speed up to 42 kilometers per hour. So it can be used during traveling and outdoor activities," said Song Yulong, an exhibitor.
Another highlight at the fair is a coffee robot capable of making latte art based on images uploaded to its system.
Besides daily products, the fair also presented many innovative solutions to production facilitation, such as a large language model that can quickly come up with dozens of design proposals based on a few pictures.
"For example, I upload the pictures of this pair of shoes and an armor, and then it can make a design based on just these two pictures. It can generate a specific and practical product design according to style references and modeling inputs," said Li Jiaxiang, another exhibitor.
The annual China Hi-Tech Fair, inaugurated in 1999, is the largest and the most influential science and technology fair in China.
This year's event attracted nearly 5,000 companies and organizations from over 100 countries and regions. More than 1,000 purchasing delegations around the world visited the fair, and more than 400,000 professional visitors negotiated deals at the fair.
It witnessed the signing of 869 contracts with their intended transaction volume surpassing 120 billion yuan (about 16.8 billion U.S. dollars).
New technologies, products shine at China Hi-Tech Fair
Incentive tax policies have revived the stagnant property market across China, catalyzing housing transactions, market confidence and homebuyers' financial flexibility and affordability.
The new policies, effective from December 1, 2024, were jointly introduced by the Ministry of Finance, the State Tax Administration and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Individuals purchasing their only residential property or a second home, as long as the area does not exceed 140 square meters, will pay deed tax at a rate of one percent across the country. For properties with an area exceeding 140 square meters, the deed tax will be levied at a rate of 1.5 percent.
People looking to improve their living conditions by selling their current homes to purchase new ones are the most active clients following the introduction of the new policies, as they benefit from both selling and buying.
"A common question is how much they can save with the current reduction in deed tax. Saving hundreds of thousands would provide more options for choosing different areas," said Wang Guoyi, a real estate agent.
With simple algorithm, in terms of deed tax for home purchases, the tax rate for first-time homebuyers has not changed, but the area eligible for benefits has increased from 90 square meters to 140 square meters. For buyers of a second home, the savings are even greater, with tax rates reduced by two percentage points and one percentage point, depending on whether the area is above or below 140 square meters. For instance, on a 100-square-meter house priced at 10 million yuan, the deed tax savings could amount to 200,000 yuan.
Additionally, authorities will clarify policies on value-added taxes and land appreciation taxes in line with the scrapping of standards for ordinary and non-ordinary housing, reduce second-hand housing transaction costs, and keep tax burdens on real estate companies stable.
"For homeowners, we've noticed that recently the room for price negotiation has significantly narrowed. By offering tax concessions during the transaction, it positively helps facilitate quicker deals and promotes market circulation," said Lu Wenxi, a real estate analyst from Centaline Property in Shanghai.
Multiple new developments in Shenzhen City, south China's Guangdong Province have also welcomed bunches of clients recently.
Sales from new deals in October have already exceeded the total sales for all of last year. With further reductions in deed tax, sales are expected to rise even more.
"Transaction volumes have increased by approximately 15 percent to 25 percent, reflecting stronger buyer confidence. This is partly due to a reduction in overall home-buying costs," said Zhang Yuanyuan, a real estate marketing manager.
Incentive tax policies revive property market across China
